Bag-like furniture cover



April 14, 1970 s. GERARD 3,506,049

BG-LIKE FURNITURE COVER 'I v l2 Sheng-sheet 1 Filed Oct. l1. 1967 INVENTOR. GEORGE GERARD ATTORNEY April 14, 1970 y G. GERARD BAG-LIKE FURNITURE COVER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. ll. 1967 INVENTOR. GEORGE GERARD ATTORNEY United States Patent Oice 3,506,049 Patented Apr. 14, 1970 3,506,049 p BAG-LIKE FURNITURE COVER George Gerard, Point Pleasant, NJ., assigner to Jiffy Manufacturing C0., Hillside, NJ., a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 11, 1967, Ser. No. 674,588 Int. Cl. B65d 77 00 U.S. Cl. 150-52 S Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The disclosure sets forth a collapsible laminated enclosure which consists of a plurality of superimposed embossed sheets in tum enclosed in smooth paper covers which are so assembled together that the collapsed enclosure may be opened into a bag-like enclosure and then inserted over a properly sized piece of furniture, whether it be a bureau, chest of drawers, wardrobe or even a couch or lounge. The inverted face of the enclosure is desirably attached together by means of stitching, but it also might be attached together by means of glue, stables or other attachment means. The skirt is generally separable, with one flap extending over the other so that when the aps are separated it will be possible to inspect the pieces of furniture enclosed without removing the bag.

BRIEF SUMMARY AND GENERAL STATE- MENT OF THE INVENTION It is among the objects of the .present invention to provide a novel laminated paper enclosure which may be collapsed to convenient compacted size, but which when expanded may be conveniently draped in bag-like or enclosure-like fashion over any suitable piece of furniture to which it has been sized, and will protect such furniture during storage, merchandising and shipment.

Another object is to provide an inexpensive, low weight, compact, readily manufactured, multi-layer paper enclosure which will give a satisfactory voluminous covering for furniture when expanded, and after use it may be readily contracted, and which will be devoid of any faces or surfaces which might likely scar the furniture.

Still further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set forth below, it being understood, however, that this more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various changes therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

In accomplishing the above objects, it has been found most satisfactory according to one embodiment of thel present invention to emboss a plurality of relatively coarse,

porous, low-matted paper sheets and then assemble them together with the embossments offset and at the same time feed together with these sheets of paper, smooth surface sheets of more highly smooth paper which will form covers on both sides thereof.

These sheets may then be folded together to form an enclosure and attached together at one side, preferably by stitching but also if desired by glueing or stapling. When the collapsed structure is then opened it may tbe placed over an article of furniture to which is has been previously sized and it will have a maximum thickness at the top of the article of furniture and lesser thickness along the sides of the article of furniture.

Usually two portions are caused to overlap from the inverted top of the bag-like enclosure to the bottom Aof the enclosure so that they may be lifted aside for inspection purposes during the merchandising and shipmentof the furniture without the necessity of removing the entire enclosure.

Although not necessary, the edges of the laminated sheets may be connected together by stitching, pinning, glueing or other means, and the junction of all of the sheets together should desirably be at the top of the article and extend transversely across the top of the article of furniture being protected.

The size of the enclosure is in'accordance with the size of the article being protected. The size of the bags are most adaptable to rectangular articles of furniture such as cabinets, chests of drawers, wardropes and the like, and also for tables.

The attachment consists of the stitch portions which form an upstanding thickness or wedge extending transversely across the top of the article of furniture, desirably across the opening ap.

In assembly the sheets are embossed and then offset so the embossments will not t over one another, but with the mounds or elevations fitting on top of the mounds or elevations of the next sheet, so as to give a maximum spacing between the embossed sheets. This is generally achieved most satisfactorily by varying the direction of the embossing in the adjacent squares or adjacent areas in the embossed sheets so that the variations in the directions of the sections will extend longitudinally or transversely in one section while in adjacent areas the lines of embossments or the lines of elevations and depressions will extend obliquely or diagonally to the major axis of the sheets.

Then the cover sheets may be applied with their edges extending over and beyond the edges of the embossed assembled Sheets and these edges are turned inwardly to give a smooth edge or enclosure with the embossed sheets being thus held in a flattened sleeve.

When the assemblage has been sized, it may be folded in, cut, and one edge thereof may be sewn or stitched so as to form a complete assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS With the foregoing and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. l is a side perspective view of the furniture cover folded together to give a compacted or collapsed package for shipment.

FIG. 2 is a side perspective view of the enclosure of FIG. l opened up to t over an article of furniture.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 3 3 of FIG. 1 upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view upon the line 4-4 of FIG. 2 upon an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a side perspective view from above of a modified form of enclosure placed upon an article of furniture.

FIG. 6 is a diagrammatic fragmentary perspective view showing how the corners may be folded around the legs and tucked in around the base of the furniture upon an enlarged scale as compared with FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a bottom plan view taken from line 7--7 of FIG. 6 showing the manner of attaching the cover in position around the leg and bottom of the article of furniture.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, there is shown a plurality of layers A of superimposed offset kraft paper, rather coarse intexture, permitting a flow of air therethrough and not highly compacted. These sheets have non-matching embossments contacting each other, and are so offset that the elevated portions of the mounds will contact each other and achieve a substantial separation.

After these sheets have been embossed and then superimposed and then assembled together, they are covered by smooth paper sleeves of highly compacted paper stock which will act as cover sheets and prevent scung or marring of furniture with which they are in contact. Desirably, these cover sheets B are folded over at C to form smooth edges and to enclose the superimposed embossed sheets in a attened sleeve.

The assembly in then folded together as indicated in FIG. 3. There is a single side D and two folded-in portions E and the overap portions F and G.

Then the top edge is stitched as indicated at H to form the enclosure with the upstanding extra thickness protection I which is hown in the collapsed bag in FIG. 1 and extending across the article of furniture in FIG. 2. This collapsed bag as shown in FIG. 1 may be readily opened from the position in FIG. 1 to the position in FIG. 2 to enclose a chest of drawers K.

The bag will extend down to 20, just short of the bottom of the legs 21 and give full protection. The folded-in portions E when folded out will give extra protection at 22 and will fit rather loosely as indicated at E over the side of the furniture.

The aps F and G will enable inspection of the furniture at K without the necessity of removing the bags.

The extra thickness I will give added protection at the top. It will be noted that under the extra thickness I there will always be an additional layer 23 so that the top of the article of furniture not only will be protected by the extra thickness I, but also by the double layers 25.

Referring to FIG. 4, the folded over portions indicated at l form a ridge of four extra layers of corrugated paper and there will also be an extra layer 23 to protect the top of the article of furniture. This additional layer 23 is formed by the folded in portions E.

Referring to the embodiment of FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 the cover 50 formed of laminated paper materials has the in-turned expanded sides 52, the side portions 53 and the top portions 54 joined together above transverse seam 55 stitcthed at 56. The overlap portion 57 permits inspection of the covered furniture below. The corners at 58 may be provided with short vertical slits 59 to permit attachment to the depending legs, 60, of the article of furniture 61, the bottom portion of which is indicated at 62 in FIG. 7.

After the cover has been placed in position as indicated in FIG, it may be held in place by one or more adhesive strips as indicated at 63 and the in-turned flaps 64 from the sides 53 may be held in position by the adhesive strips 65. This enhanced ,protection which is `achieved as far as the leg 60 and the lower corners of the furniture article 61 is concerned would give added protection.

The size of the collapsible bag may be varied to accommodate various sizes and shapes of furniture and it may be reused if desired or discarded, since the cost is quite low compared to cloth or other types of materials and other systems of 'covering and protecting articles of furniture. i j

As many changes could be made in the above furniture cover, and many widely different embodiment of this invention could be made, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

1. A multi-layer laminated inverted bag-like paper enclosure placed over and protecting an article of furniture, comprising a plurality of superimposed non-coincident embossed combination sheets having smooth cover sheets on each side thereof, said smooth cover sheets and said interior superimposed embossed sheets being substantially integrally joined together, said embossed sheets within said cover sheets being for the most part substantially separated from one another but only in contact along the elevations of the embossments in respect to one another, which elevations also contact the cover sheets, said combination sheets being joined together inside of one edge of said sheets to form the top of the inverted bag and said sheets overlapping one another at one side of the article of furniture, said joinder extending transversely across the top of the inverted bottom of the bag on top of the article of furniture so as to give additional protection at the top, the sides being provided with single layers of combination embossed sheets.

2. The enclosure of claim 1, the edges of said embossed sheets being covered by said smooth cover sheets.

3. The enclosure of claim 1, said embossed sheets being relatively coarse, porous sheets permitting passage of air and the enclosing cover sheets being formed of smooth, highly calendered, less porous material.

4. The enclosure of claim 1, said bag-like enclosure being vertically slit adjacent the lower corners of the enclosure to provide attaching portions and adhesive strips attaching said portions to legs of said article.

5. The enclosure of claim 1, the lower sides of said enclosure being vertically slit so `that they may be folded under the article of furniture to protect the lower corners and edges thereof.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,607,122 11/1926 Gifford 150-52 2,306,987 12/1942 Yount l50-52 2,314,876 3/1943 Greene 229-55 X 3,295,577 1/1967 Danielson 150--52 DONALD F. NORTON, Primary Examiner 

